A successful collaboration between DuPont Netherlands and Climalife resulting in a tailor-made solution, based on efficiency and safety.DuPont is a global supplier of chemical products in the areas of refrigeration and air conditioning.
The “Loading & Blending” production unit – located at Dordrecht- manufactures fluorinated components, packages them in 900 L containers, or 20 m3 Isocontainers and distributes these products worldwide. In order to guarantee the quality of its products placed on the market, the content of non-condensable gases (all the components in air) must be checked, in compliance with the ARI specifications. If the non-condensable gas content is greater than 1.5% after packaging, a degassing operation must be performed rapidly while respecting the environment.
Climalife degassing technology used at DuPont.
15 years ago, the Climalife engineering team developed degassing equipment for internal use at its industrial sites, with a refrigerating capacity of 400 W. Over the years, the equipment has been developed and perfected with the aim of minimising losses of the product and reducing the environmental impact.
At the same time, there is increasing market demand for this type of equipment, Climalife has therefore decided to develop units for external use, enabling customers to benefit from optimum service.
At the start of 2010, the management of DuPont Netherlands became interested in our technology. After an in-depth study of customer requirements, Douglas Irwin, fluorinated products engineer at DuPont Netherlands and Chris Van Der Kelen, Engineering Product Manager at Climalife worked together and developed a bespoke degassing solution with a thermal refrigerating capacity of 3000 W to improve the on-site manufacturing packaging process. Three months later, the degassing equipment had been installed at the industrial site. With this in mind, ten DuPont personnel were trained by Climalife to use this new technology.
After a year’s operation, an assessment of the operational performance reveals that the equipment has met all of DuPont’s expectations. Thanks to the introduction of this technology, the packaging process was optimised and the investment was rapidly repaid by the time saving resulting from this operation. As a result of this success, a second project is currently being developed. This involves a degassing unit for flammable refrigerants.
The advantages of Climalife degassing technology:
- Optimum performances: a 3000 W unit can remove non-condensable gases in a 20 m3 ISO container in less than 8 hours.
- Tailor-made.
- Fully automated equipment: stops the degassing operation as per the specifications.
Company: DuPont Netherlands
Activity: Production of refrigerants
Location: Dordrecht manufacturing site, Netherlands
Date established: 1802
Employees: 58,000 throughout the world